Google confirms it is behind $600m Papillion data center project

Google plans to hold a groundbreaking this Friday for a $600m data center in Papillion, Nebraska.

Negotiations with local officials over the facility was done via the shell company Fireball Group LLC, using the codename Project Wizard. In January, however, DCDuncovered links between Fireball and Google that suggested it was behind the project.

Near Council Bluffs

– Sebastian Moss

Governor Pete Rickets will join Papillion Mayor David Black at the groundbreaking ceremony, which will be held on the 275-acre (111.3-hectare) site near Omaha city.

The project is expected to take 18 to 24 months, and bring around 30 permanent jobs. Earlier this year, Google announced a $13 billion building program across the US for data centers and offices, including the Nebraska facility, as well as data centers in Nevada and Texas.

With Google now confirmed as the company behind the Project Wizard curtain, that leaves the identity of the firm behind another nearby data center proposal still to be uncovered.

Over in Lincoln, Nebraska, a shell company known as Agate LLC has been negotiating with officials to rezone land for a data center. The potential facility would cost $600m, the price Google usually quotes for its data centers, but DCD has yet to find a concrete link between Agate and Google.

Google, like most hyperscale developers, often negotiates tax breaks and land rights with various local officials in a region, choosing to build on the one that gives it the best deal.